Christmas in Gangjeong, and still the construction of the massive naval base to accommodate America’s “Pivot to Asia” continues without a break. And, today, as they do everyday, the priests, nuns, villagers and their supporters celebrate mass and pray for peace.

Today, Bishop Peter Kang, the Bishop of Jeju, came to Gangjeong to celebrate Christmas mass at the gate of the base in freezing weather.

Photos by Choe Hye-young and Rom

Grace Kim is a Korean, who went abroad at quite an early age. She went to high school and college in the US and has been living in Berlin for the last 5 years studying Visual and Media Anthropology at Freie University. Grace is in Gangjeong for three months keeping a daily video diary as she conducts her research.

When I went to Gangjeong, I learned that each of us has a voice and that with knowledge comes responsibility. The least we can do is to amplify the voices of Gangjeong and do what we can to bring justice and peace to our world.

I wanted to share this wonderful video Grace posted today, Christmas 2013. It clearly demonstrates the indomitable spirit of the people of Gangjeong in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, and yet the villagers and their supporters who come from Jeju, the mainland, and around the world have found their own voices and are doing their part to amplify the message of Gangjeong: Peace on Earth!

Here it is….a short outtake of my 25 minute interview of Oliver Stone. This is only about 5 minutes in length. Oliver insisted on a “French-Canadian” pronunciation of my name – twice, and he made reference to my film two times as well.

At one point Oliver asked for some water and how much time we had left. His comment to me was quite funny.

Some of what you won’t see will appear in the film, which I hope to have finished by June 1, 2013.

Park Sung-Soo has been documenting the daily struggle in Gangjeong Village since the summer of 2011. He was accused of trespassing when he entered the navy base complex to protest the harassment of two young women reporters with sexual remarks by the base security personnel.

The two young women reporters appealed the incident to the Korean Human Rights Committee, but their case was dismissed.

Park Sung-Soo, AKA Dungree, was not able to pay his fine amounting to $1500 U.S. dollars, so he decided to serve out his fine in jail for 28 days. Dungree is resolute in not wanting anyone to pay his fine. He is willing to bear the sufferings he will encounter for the month in prison.

Dungree is a victim of the new government’s strategy to oppress people with fines and to put down the protest against the illegal construction of the base.

Since the beginning of the struggle in Gangjeong Village in 2007 to February 2013, there have been upwards of 700 arrests with 500 indictments. 22 activists have been imprisoned. All have been released with the exception of Prof. Yang Yoon-mo who has been sentenced to 18 months, this being the fourth time he has been jailed. Prof. Yang agreed to end his 52 day old hunger strike on March 24, the third since his protest began.

The average fine against the activists has been approximately $3,000 U.S. dollars, and some have had fines as high as $9,000 U.S. dollars bringing the total amount of fines to $450,000 U.S. dollars. But, that’s not all. The total compensation fee for “damages” is approximately $290,000 U.S. dollars.

All of the activists are willing to go to jail because they cannot afford the fines.

There is no way to sugar coat these gross violations of human rights and the total disregard and disdain for the civil rights of these people who are fighting for self-determination, a transparent and open democratic process, justice, peace, and the survival of their culture, not to mention their livelihoods.

To blame for this most recent displacement of indigenous people, the violation of human rights, the destruction of the environment, the beating of war drums, and the escalation of tensions around the world is the government of the U.S., the U.S. war department, and the military industrial complex.

Meanwhile, the Village is protesting the navy’s military residential housing project which will effectively obliterate this 400 year old village with accommodations for 8,000 military personnel. This base will require maintenance facilities, an airport, radar, fuel tanks, bars, restaurants, shops, and brothels, and probably missile silos.

What is happening on Jeju Island, and in so many other places around the world, are crimes against humanity.

America! Now they are coming for us! Not only is the #1 U.S. export weapons and “security,” but now the corporations are fast at work to get us to pay for their lust for power and profits. They want (Congress will do their bidding) to pay for all of it on the backs of the middle class and the poor.

Every state in this country owes thousands of jobs to the corporations who produce the weapons and supplies of war. Because of this, there is hardly a person in Congress who will oppose their lust for more and more and more. They threaten to close down their factories and move if Congress doesn’t keep increasing the war budget that feeds the military industrial complex.

Just a cursory glance across this land reveals their ugly job-creating lies from coast to coast, and from border to border: tar-sands, Keystone pipeline, the East-West Highway in Maine, the proposed LNG tank in Searsport, Maine, hyrdo-fracking wherever they can find gas. They are stealing our own precious resources like water and selling them for profit.

Meanwhile our states are broke and can no longer maintain critical infrastructure; provide quality education; and protect the social safety net, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

There is only one answer to this suicidal march: more than 60% of the discretionary spending of the U.S. (our taxes) go to the military aka the war department. If one includes veteran’s benefits and NASA, the percentage is much higher. Bush’s wars will cost us more than $4 TRILLION. There are more than 800 U.S. military “bases” in every corner of the globe……supposedly for national security. Read: the interest of the corporations who extract resources and exploit other nations.

The Villagers of Gangjeong along with the Catholic Bishop of Jeju, Bishop Kang, have the answer: “Peace is the way. No Naval Base on the Island of Peace.” It is the moral obligation of every human being to oppose war and work for peace and justice in the world.

For those who are not able to travel to Jeju to support this struggle, you can send donations to www.savejejunow.org to help pay the fines and to support the activists who represent us in this global struggle against the U.S. imperial march towards domination of the world by force.

Many priests, nuns, ministers, and Buddhist monks regularly travel to Gangjeong Village on Jeju Island to protest the construction of the massive naval base that is destroying the village, the pristine ecosystem, and contributing to the military expansion of the United States, not to mention raising the already high tensions of the region.

Among the most regular protestors are three Jesuits who have made direct action their priestly ministry. All have been arrested and jailed for obstructing construction of the base. I spent many hours each day chatting with them and filming their encounters with the Korean police as many as ten times every day.

I taped an interview with the three one day during lunch in front of the gates. Their comments were inspirational, but the final couple of minutes are hilarious. Enjoy meeting my friends and brothers in this 5:50 clip.

While in Gangjeong Village last September, I had the opportunity to interview over 20 villagers and activists who have been protesting the construction of that massive naval base in their tiny village to serve the needs of the U.S. “pivot to Asia” in order to check China.

As I am working hard to finish the feature-length documentary, Jeju: In the crosshairs of war, I’ve been reviewing hours of video, most of which will not be used. But, because all of it is of great value, I decided to create this series entitled, Gangjeong Village: Up Close and Personal to allow people to get to know these wonderful people on a personal level.

I hope that you are moved, as I was, by their perseverance against overwhelming force, their endurance, their peacefulness, and their joyful spirits.

First in the series is Fr. Mun Jeong Hyeon, the iconic 74 yr old priest who has been beaten, hospitalized and jailed for protesting the construction of the base. Fr. Mun is known as a “street father” because of his support for victims of human rights violations inflicted by state power. Ordained in 1966, he organized the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice in 1974 and opposed the dictatorship when the military carried out extrajudicial killings.

Fr. Mun is a true man of peace and has been at the forefront of protecting human rights in Korea. I hope you enjoy the series and this visit with my friend, Fr. Mun.

How is this, and dozens of other examples of police beating and spraying peaceful demonstrators a good thing some might ask? Well, contrary to what the “authorities” and the police might think, this only adds fuel to the fire and is the best recruiting tool we have.

As Americans we are outraged at a corrupt political and economic system that serves the interests of the few and not the common good. But until now, until Occupy Wall St., we were without a voice. We are outraged to see riot police and anti-terrorist units from NYC to Seattle mercilessly beating and spraying peaceful Americans who are exercising their Constitutional Right to peaceable assembly, the exercise of free speech, and the right to express our grievances to the Government. (The Bill of Rights)

As Americans we have to wonder about the hypocrisy when our President and Secretary of State condemn the very same acts of brutality and violence we have witnessed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, and Syria to name just a few, at the hands of oppressive dictatorships. So, I ask, why have President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton remained silent when our own mayors and governors are unleashing such brutality on our own people?

Police brutality and violence on our own people is a good thing because this will only cause students from Maine to California to stand in solidarity with each other and all of us who are protesting injustice and inequality in America. Just yesterday, students at Casco Bay High School in Portland, Maine formed an Occupy support group and published a Facebook page. This will hopefully encourage other high schools to form their own groups.

And maybe churches of all denominations will realize that they need to be involved in this movement. I find it ironic that churches which have traditionally been at the center of social justice and human rights issues have been mysteriously silent and invisible. It is time for them to convert their holy book messages and sermons into action and take to the streets. The churches in America have the infrastructure to educate, lead, and mobilize millions of Americans who have been standing on the sidelines.

When our churches and educational campuses show up en masse, this movement, which has been spreading like wildfire, will explode in every corner of America from border to border and from sea to shinning sea!

Dr. Martin Luther King showed us that non-violent protests can and will overcome injustice and inequality, and the willingness to be beaten and to die for a just cause can inspire a nation and change the order of the world.

(To see more videos of police brutality on Occupy demonstrators, go to Youtube.com and type Police Brutality into the search bar.)

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Testimonials

"It was a smashing hit....people were crying and they were clapping at the end.....I handed out the DVD's strategically to key leaders in various Swedish cities, and from Finland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Japan and Mexico.....people passed the hat to send money to the village but I insisted they keep the money towards sending a representative from Sweden to the village ASAP......they loved the music, the story, and the resistance.....many people sent congrats to you....it's was a European opening night showing......5 stars. Add Russia to list of places I sent DVD home with....a man who works directly for Putin."